This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Underground mining vehicles, such as roof bolters, may include roof supports (e.g., plates, pads, beams, etc.) for supporting the roof of an underground mine, such as to prevent the roof from collapsing. The roof supports may be adjustable in order to engage with the roof surface. For instance, the roof supports may be coupled to a vertical column or a scissor jack configured to move the roof supports vertically (i.e., raise or lower the roof supports) to engage the roof surface. However, as the roof supports are raised and lowered within the underground mine, the roof supports and the accompanying vertical column or scissor jack may become twisted (e.g., may rotate), which can cause damage to the components and perhaps cause the mining vehicle to malfunction.
Some mining vehicles may include a roof support mounted to a telescopic column and configured to raise and lower to engage a mining roof. An example of such a mining vehicle can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,368, issued Aug. 18, 1981, for “Vehicle with Dual Drill Booms and Temporary Roof Support,” which discloses a mining vehicle wherein “a temporary roof support is removably mounted to end member at the forward end of the center boom tilt portion,” and that “the temporary roof support has a telescopic column with a base portion.” However, the disclosed mining vehicle with roof support does not include additional support to prevent the roof support and/or the telescopic column from twisting or rotating as the roof support is raised and/or lowered.